Violin and method of producing the same



J. GORMANQ VIOLIN AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12. 1920. 1,400,153. Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Elma/who: Jam/ 6 GOrmaJZ/n J. GORMAN.

VIOLIN AND METHOD or PRODUCING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED AUG- IL 1920- 1,400,153, Patented Dec.13,1921. I iiwflfi sflii'r 2- Jrlzea German- J. GORMAN. VIOLIN AND METHOD OFPRODUCING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-l2, 1920. 1,400,153, Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3..

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UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

J'AMES GORMAIN OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 13,1921.

Application file d August 12, 1920. Serial No. 403,015.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jaarns GORMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and'useful Improvements in Violins and Methods ofProducing the Same, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in musical instruments of theviol class 3 and is directed more especially to a novel construction ofa violin and the method by which the instrument is produced.

In the present methods of manufacturing musical instruments of the classabove mentioned, the tables usually are produced from slabs of asuitable kind of wood which slabs are initially of thicknesssomewhatgreater than the final thickness of the'tables and which aregouged or otherwise worked by machine or the desired surface contour,after which the finished tables are united to the marginal ribs withoutbeing placed under any appreciable degree of tension. Thus an instrumentmanufactured by such a method must depend, for the quality of its tone,upon the inherent resonance of the wood employed in the manufacture ofthe tables, and upon the contour of the tables. However as previouslystated, the tablesin an'instrument thus manufactured are originallycarved to the required shape or contour and in no sense of the wordunder tension.

As concerns my invention'I have, as the result of a long series ofexperiments, ar-

rived at the conclusion and become convinced that if in the course ofmanufacture of the instrument the tables are tensioned by beingsubjected to a bending or bowing stress,,the sonority of the instrumentand its tonal qualities will be greatly enhanced. I have observed forexample that if a strip of some resonant wood is clamped at one end andpressure is applied upon-its other end to stress the strip in 'a mannerto effect bowing thereof, and if, further, a rosin bow be drawn acrossthe stressed'or tensioned strip, the resonance of the strip will beincreased in ratio with increase of pressure upon this last mentionedend or in other words in ratio with the increasein tension of the strip.This principle I have applied in the production of musical instrumentsof the viol type, and particularly violins, and the manner in which thebyv hand until the tables have principle is applied is clearlyillustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be fully explained inthe specific description which is to follow.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a violin construced in accordance with theprinciples of the invention, a portion of one of the tables being brokenaway and parts being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is an edge view of one of the fulcrum pieces employed,

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line 33'of Fig. 2;v

Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the body of theinstrument;

Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, the tables beingillustrated in full lines in positions about to be applied, and the viewillustrating in dotted lines the shapes which will be assumed by thetables upon application to the skeleton body of the instrument by themethod of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig.5 illustrating the completed body;

Fig. 7 is a side of the back or lower table of the in strument;

' Fig. 8 is a plan view illustrating the mannor in which the upper tableor belly of the instrument is laid out.

In its general shape and appearance, a violin or other instrument ofthis class con structed in accordance with the method of the invention,does not noticeably differ from such an instrument produced bythe oldmethods of manufacture, the instrument comprising the usual body whichis indicated by the numeral 1, and the usual neck which is indicated bythe numeral 2, the

body comprising the ribs 3, the upper table or belly i, and the lowertable or back 5. The neck 2 is provided wit-h the usual top end block 6,and there is also provided at the opposite end of the body of theinstrument the usual bottom end block which indicated by the numeral 7,these blocks, and the neck 2 and ribs 3 being united together and beinggenerally of the usual shape and size. In the present instance howeverthe top and bottom end blocks 6 and 7 have flat or plane upper and underfaces as will be observed particularly by reference to Figs. 5 and 6 ofthe drawings.

In producing the upper table or belly t 4 of the body of the instrument,I select two slabs of wood indicated in Fig. 8 of the drawings by thenumeral 8 and which slabs are of suliicient length and breadth to admitof one-half of the said upper table being laid out thereon. These slabsmay be of any kind of resonant wood suitable for use in this connectionand they'are initially of a thickness equal to the final'thickness whichit is desired the tables shall have. A pattern or outline of the twolateral halves of the upper table is laidout upon the upper surface ofthe slabs as illustrated in said Fig. 8 and the slabs are then cut toproduce these halves. Initially adjacent or opposing edges of the twoslabs, when disposed in contact in the manner shown in said Fig. '8,will meet only at a point substantially at what is to constitute themiddle of the table, these edges diverging slightly in oppositedirections from this point as indicated by the numeral 9. The next stepin the manufacture of this table comprises securing these edges togetherin contact throughout theirentirelengths and while in doing this theunfinished table will have imparted to it a slight degree of curvature,this degree is by no means equivalent to'or as pronounced as the degreesof curvature which the table will possess along longitudinal andtransverse lines of cross section when completed, the said tableconstituting an integral part of the body of the instrument. In

order to prevent splitting of the table after its initially divergingedges have been united together, thin strips of veneer indicated by thenumeral 10, are preferably glued to the inner face of the tableinposition extending transversely of the ends thereof and spanning theunited edges of I have found it the halves of the, table. advisable touse these veneer strips for the reason stated but only-as aprecautionary measure and they are not therefore to be considered asconstituting an essential part of the instrument or a salient feature ofthe invention. 7 I

In order to obtain the desired tensioning of the table just described, Iemploy two fulcrum pieces one of which is clearly illustrated in Figs. 2and 3 of the drawings.

Similar fulcrum pieces are employed, as

will be presently explained, in connection with the lower table or back5, and inasmuch as all of the pieces are of substantially the sameshape, a description of one will sufficefor all. The fulcrum pieceillustrated in Figs; 2 and8 is indicated in general by the nnmeralll andthe same comprises a wooden body of predetermined dimensions havingupper and under faces 12 and 18 respectively which are curved orconvexed continuously in the direction of the length I of the body andwhich occupy planes converging toward and meeting at one edge of thebody which edge is'indicated by the shaping the edge 14 so that the samewill conform substantially-to the marginal curvature of the end of therespective table to the face of which the strip or body is to beapplied. Having produced the fulcrum pieces 11, two of these piecesareassembled with the unfinished upper table'above described with theirminor edges 14 approximately registering with the adjacent end edges ofthe table, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, and with theirmajor edges 15 presented toward each other, and the strips are securelyand permanently glued or otherwise secured in this position to the innerface of the table, and, if the veneer strips are employed, preferablytothese strips. Grluev is then applied to the exposed face of'one of thefulcrumpieces 11 and the piece is clamped-upon the respective side ofthe face of the respective end block 6 or 7 as the case may be, afterwhich the table is placed under stress by bringing pressure to bearagainst its opposite end portion and against its sides, glue having beenpreviously applied to the erposed face of the other fulcrum piece andthe inner face of the table at the margin thereof,

until the last mentioned fulcrum piece and the margins of the table havebeen brought to bear firmly against and have become united to the otherend block and the body rib respectively. By this method, the table,which was in its original blank form, substantially flat, becomes bothlongitudinally and transversely bulged and is thus automatically causedto assume the required bulging contour. This effect is brought about bythe stress imposed upon the table, and thus the table which wasinitially free from stress, has now imposed upon it a permanent tensionor stress which renders it more resonant andmore capable of respond ingto the vibrations of the strings of the instrument.

The method of producing and securing in place the lower table or back ofthe body of the instrument is substantially identical with that abovedescribed with regard to the upper table except that the back may beformed from a single piece of wood instead of in halves and is initiallyflat and is provided upon its inner face with a centerpiece which erablyonly marginally glued as at 17 t0 the inner face of the said lower tableor back although glue may be applied over its entirearea if founddesirable. However by uniting the centerpiece only at its margin to thesaid lower table or back, I provide for slight relative movement of thetwo pieces or slabs when the table is subjected to the bending stressesincident to its tensioning and the securing of it in place within theinstrument. Preferably the exposed side of the centerpiece 16 is beveledat its margin as indicated by the numeral 18.

The manner in which the tables are marginally secured to the ribs 3 andthe bouts 19 of these ribs, is in a sense immaterial, it beingsufiicient, for example, to employ corner strips 20 at the lines ofunion of the table with the edges of the ribs as clearly shown in Fig.4t of the drawings.

By tensioning the tables in the manner recited and thus permanentlyplacing them under tension or stress, the tables are rendered moresensitive and responsive to the vibrations of the strings of theinstrument, and have an enhanced degree of resonance, and impart to theinstrument, when played, that sonority of tone which is so desirable inan instrument of this class.

The fact will be appreciated that by the carrying out of my inventionnot only do I avoid the time, labor, and expense incident to the gougingor carving, to the proper contour, of tables from initially relativethick slabs, but also I produce tables which are so tensioned as to becapable of better resisting pressure tending to collapse them than aretables which are not tensioned and are carved to the required contour.Also it will be evident that inasmuch as the degree of resonance of thetables will be increased proportionately with the degree of tension towhich the tables are subjected, substantially any desired degree ofresonance and responsiveness to tone vibrations may be predicted inadvance and obtained by varying the contour and dimensions of thefulcrum pieces and thus vary the degree of pressure required to springthe tables into place at the time of uniting them with the skeleton bodyof the instrument.

lVhile the principles of the invention are illustrated and described inconnection with the manufacture of a violin or other instrument of theviol class, it will be understood that the principles may findembodiment in the manufacture of a guitar and similarly shapedinstruments of the lute class.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. The method of producing a musical instrument of the viol and alliedclasses which comprises constructing the body frame of the instrument,forming one of the tables initially substantially flat and of a finalthickness, providing a fulcrum upon one ends with substantiallywedge-shaped fulcrums, stressing the table by binding, and securing thefulcrums to the said end blocks whereby to permanently maintain thestressed condition.

3. The method of producing a musical instrument of the viol and alliedclasses which comprises forming one of the tables from relatively flatslabs of the final thickness, and comprising sections of the table,uniting the slabs edge to edge, applying bonding strips to the innerface of the table, spanning the united edges, providing the table uponits said face at opposite marginal portions with substantiallywedge-shaped fulcrums, stressing the table by bending and securing thefulcrums to the end blocks of the body frame of the instrument wherebyto maintain the stressed condition.

4. A musical instrument of the viol class comprising a body frameincluding end block portions, substantially wedge-shaped fulcrum piecessecured to the faces of the said portions, and a table secured at itsopposite marginal portions to the said fulcrum pieces and permanentlystressed by reason of the presence of said fulcrum pieces.

5. A musical instrument of the viol class comprising a body frameincluding the usual ribs and end block portions, fulcriun pieces securedto the faces of the end block portions and substantially wedgeshaped andhaving their relatively adjacent edges -of maximum thickness and theirrelatively remote edges of minimum thickness, the said fulcrum piecesbeing diminished in thickness from their intermediate portions in thedirection of their ends, and a table marginally united to the saidfulcrum pieces and to the said ribs and permanently stressed by reasonof the presence of the said fulcrum pieces.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JAMES GORMAN. [n s]

